The Colossal Crown Of Belize: Exploring The Nation's Tallest Structure

The tallest building in Belize is a pyramid at Caracol, an ancient Mayan city located in the Chiquibul Forest Reserve. The pyramid, known as Caana or Sky Place, stands at 140 feet above the plaza floor and is topped with three additional temples. Caracol is believed to be the largest ancient Mayan city in Belize, covering over twenty square miles and inhabited by over 200,000 people at its peak around AD 700. The site was discovered in 1937 by a mahogany logger named Rosa Mai and was named Caracol, the Spanish word for snail, due to the numerous snail shells found in the area.

Caracol is Belize's tallest building

Caracol was discovered in 1937 by Rosa Mai, a mahogany logger, and later visited by the official archaeologist of British Honduras, A.H. Anderson, who named the site Caracol (Spanish for snail) due to the numerous snail shells found there.

Caracol's tallest structure, Caana (Sky Place), is also the tallest man-made structure in Belize, standing at 140 feet above the plaza floor, topped with three additional temples. The pyramid is believed to have been inhabited about AD 300, and by AD 700, it is expected that over 200,000 people occupied the area.

Today, Caracol is a popular tourist destination, with visitors able to climb to the top of the tallest temple and explore the surrounding jungle. The site is only accessible via a four-wheel-drive vehicle during the rainy season, but plans are underway to upgrade the road.

It is a Mayan pyramid

The tallest building in Belize is a Mayan pyramid. Known as the Caana or "Sky Palace", this impressive structure stands at 140-143 feet tall, making it the tallest man-made building in the country. It is located within the ancient Mayan city of Caracol, which was once home to more than 140,000 people and is now a fascinating archaeological site nestled in the Chiquibul Forest Reserve.

The Caracol site was discovered in 1938 by a logger named Rosa Mai, who stumbled upon it while searching for mahogany trees. The city is believed to have been abandoned by the Mayans around the year 900, and many of its structures have since been blanketed by the encroaching jungle. However, the site still covers around 25,000 acres, offering endless opportunities for exploration.

The Caana pyramid is the biggest draw for visitors to Caracol. This towering structure houses four distinct palaces and three temples, and it also boasts advanced acoustics that allowed announcements from priests and rulers to be heard by masses of people in the plaza below without any amplification.

Climbing to the top of the Caana pyramid offers a breathtaking 360-degree view of the surrounding landscape, including the jungle and, on a clear day, neighbouring Guatemala. The pyramid is just one of over 35,000 known structures within the Caracol complex, and its height and grandeur are a testament to the ingenuity and architectural prowess of the ancient Maya civilisation.

In addition to the Caana pyramid, Caracol boasts a wealth of other highlights, including ball courts, an astronomic observatory, reservoirs, and hieroglyphics. The sheer size and scope of these well-preserved ruins make it challenging to see everything in one visit, but each exploration of Caracol offers a deeper sense of wonder about this ancient culture that once flourished in the region.

Caracol was discovered in 1937

Caracol, a large ancient Maya archaeological site, was discovered in 1937 by a native logger named Rosa Mai. Mai stumbled upon the site while searching for mahogany hardwood trees to exploit in the Cayo District of Belize. Mai reported the site to the archaeological commission for British Honduras, which is now Belize.

The site was first noted and documented archaeologically in 1937 by A. Hamilton Anderson, the archaeological commissioner. In 1938, Anderson visited the site for two weeks along with his colleague, Hugh Blockley Jex, who later became the Inspector of Crown Licence. It was Anderson who gave the site its modern name, "Caracol", which means "snail" or "shell" in Spanish. They conducted preliminary surveys, noted nine carved monuments, and took notes on the structures of the A-Group Plaza. Anderson also undertook limited excavations in two locations.

Caracol is now known to be one of the most important regional political centers of the Maya Lowlands during the Classic Period. The site covers approximately 200 square kilometres, which is much larger than present-day Belize City, the country's largest metropolitan area. It is estimated that Caracol supported more than twice the modern city's population, with over 100,000 people.

The Caracol Archaeological Project, ongoing every year since 1985, has been directed by Arlen and Diane Chase of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. The project has been instrumental in uncovering the site's extensive urban and agricultural networks through annual excavations and a LiDAR survey in 2009.

It is located in the Chiquibul Forest Reserve

The Chiquibul Forest Reserve is located within Belize's Greater Mayan Mountains. It was designated a forest reserve in 1956 and covered an area of 184,925.9 hectares. In 1991, part of the reserve was reclassified as the Chiquibul National Park and the Caracol Archeological Reserve, reducing the Chiquibul Forest Reserve to 59,822 hectares. Despite the reduction, it remains the largest managed reserve in Belize.

The Chiquibul Forest Reserve is bordered on its southwest, east, and south by the Chiquibul National Park, on its northwest edge by the Caracol Archaeological Reserve, and on its north side by the Mountain Pine Ridge. The Chiquibul Forest Reserve, Chiquibul National Park, and Caracol Archeological Reserve together compose the Chiquibul Forest.

The Chiquibul Forest Reserve is managed for timber and non-timber forest products. The primary threat to the flora and fauna of the reserve is poaching, illegal logging, and other illegal activities, mainly carried out by residents of Guatemalan communities close to the Belize-Guatemalan border.

The Chiquibul Forest region, including the Chiquibul Forest Reserve, encompasses 17 distinct ecosystems, mainly variants of lowland and submontane tropical evergreen broadleaf forests with different humidity levels and substrate types. This diversity of habitats supports a wide range of fauna, including rare species such as jaguars, ocelots, margays, and scarlet macaws. The area receives an estimated 2,000 mm of rainfall annually and is part of the Belize River watershed, providing riparian areas that support the Baird's tapir.

Caana is Caracol's tallest structure

Belize's Caracol Maya Site is home to the country's tallest structure, Caana, which means "Sky Place" in English. This ancient Mayan city, discovered in 1937, is located in the Chiquibul Forest Reserve and covers over twenty square miles, sitting 500 metres above sea level.

Caana stands at 140 feet above the plaza floor and is topped with three additional temples. The structure is part of Belize's largest known ancient Mayan city, which is expected to have been inhabited by over 200,000 people around AD 700. The site was named Caracol, meaning "snail" in Spanish, by the official archaeologist of British Honduras, A.H. Anderson, due to the numerous snail shells found in the area.

The city boasts an extensive irrigation system, reservoirs, and an internal road system. Over 100 tombs have been discovered, including that of an adult woman believed to be the wife of Lord Water, the ruler who conquered Tikal. In Plaza B, facing Caana, several large stucco masks depicting Tlaloc, the Mexican god of rain and lightning, as well as jaguars, have been uncovered.

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